


Tale of the Blue Spirit

by QuillWrighter



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Blue Spirit Zuko (Avatar), Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Spirit Zuko (Avatar), Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:40:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25397806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuillWrighter/pseuds/QuillWrighter
Summary: The spirits tried to teach him their ways, what he could and could not do. He never listened. After all, Blue Spirit did as he pleased.-Or the one where Zuko did not survive the Agni Kai
Comments: 184
Kudos: 961
Collections: A:tla, The Best of Zuko, Top 10%





	1. From One World to Another

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KidWestHope16](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KidWestHope16/gifts), [MikkiOfTheAnbu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MikkiOfTheAnbu/gifts).



Blue Spirit was new. He knew this, the rest of the spirit world knew. After all it wasn’t every day that a new greater spirit came into being. Blue Spirit had been thrust into this world bathed in blood and flames. Fire they yelled. Just another of Agni’s little embers. Shadows some others spoke when they looked at his shifting black hair, when he walked among the darkness like he and it were one in the same.

Only in the farthest pits of the spirit world did they dare whisper Chaos. In the darkest shadows where they feared not the spirits of the elements hearing. But darkness was his domain. Blue rather liked it. The worlds could always use a little chaos.

Oh the great Sun Agni and his sister Tui the Moon tried to teach him the ways of their long sought after harmony. Tried to teach him the way Spirits like him were supposed to be like. Blue looked back on those moments with amusement. Had he not been too preoccupied with relearning how to walk, run, and fight without his sight and hearing on his left. He may have actually listened a little.

Not that it mattered much, Blue Spirit did as he pleased. 

Others had said it was a pity he didn’t have a tail to compensate for his lost sense of balance so he made his own. Some told him only Agni and the dragons could wield the multicolored flames, he turned into a half-faced dragon to spite them.

They all told him no one could take a face back from Koh the face stealer. When Koh raged and stormed though the spirit world making it fall into disarray, into chaos. He laughed.  
Holding his new face in his hands he admired it. The first moment he had seen Koh switch to it he knew he had to have it. The eternally grinning visage of a blue and white demon completed him. The moment he had put the mask like face on he had felt like he was finally filling a hole he didn’t know was there. Blue and white filled the space where it had once been nothing but formless shadows next to a scar on his dragon form. 

When the Spirits saw him wearing his new face with pride, they called him trickster and thief. Like chaos, he enjoyed those words too. But more than that it told him he was ready to leave the Spirit world.

Agni had once told him while he was still hurting, when he was still burning that they as spirits did not directly interfere with the lives of the mortals. That they could only guide them from a distance and showed Blue Spirit how. He decided that he didn’t like that.

Whenever he was not practicing, or playing tricks he would watch the humans through the world window lake. He would see humans being so cruel to one another and all he wanted to do was stop them. Those moments he would remember flashes from when he had been mortal. Living in fear, finding safety hiding in the shadows where no one could find him. He remembered trying to speak up for others that were to be slaughtered only to be burned to death by someone he feared and loved. La had to pull him out of the lake more than once.  
Blue Spirit had been stopped from leaving twice before, once by Agni telling him that he was still injured and that the mortal realm was no place for a young being like him. Shu had caught him the second time. Laughing and telling him that no one was going to let him leave. Shu had made the mistake of saying that there was no way he would be able to get pass all of them.  
No one told Blue Spirit what he could and could not do. So here he was lounging in a tree. As the summer solstice approached once again. He made a point to look as uninterested as possible. His tail floating in the little breeze like it were just a regular piece of cloth. 

His non-damaged ear twitched the moment he felt the barrier between the spirit world and mortal world weaken. Almost instantly Agni and Shu burst into the space he had claimed as his own.

“You’re not going-!” Shu shouted only to trail off seeing the younger spirit doing absolutely nothing. Blue gave the two of them the best unimpressed stare that he could muster up. He could never lie but acting was something he could do. Agni’s one eye studied him in bewilderment.

“Are you not going to try and escape to the Mortal realm?”  
Blue scoffed and waved them off putting his arms back behind his head and keeping his body completely relaxed.

“I don’t believe you. You’ve tried both times since you formed what makes you think we’ll just buy that you aren’t going to try this time?”  
Blue blinked slowly and put a finger to his lips looking up in thought. What could he say that would be believable? He hadn’t thought this far ahead! Scrambling for an excuse he remembered something he had planned to take with him to the mortal world but he didn’t mind sacrificing it to his cause.

He grinned his trickster grin that showed off all his sharp teeth and pulled out a little necklace from the inside of his black dress. He let it drop and swing, delighting in the expressions of disbelief from the two older spirits. It was just a little deep blue pendent with a pretty little white koi fish in its center.

“You-Blue Spirit how did you Get Tui’s betrothal necklace?!” Shu all but screeched and his grin only grew. He had watched as La decided to take one of the human traditions and made the necklace for his love. Of course, he swiped it before it could be gifted to Tui. He swung it on one finger and just caught it swiftly with his free hand.

“You just- you just stole it from under La’s nose?” Agni sounded a little delirious but impressed. Blue laughed and delighted in the shivers it sent down the elder’s bodies. It was the only sound they had ever heard him make and they didn’t think it meant anything good.

His whole plan was to take it to the mortal world with him and eventually give it back once he found their mortal forms. A long game of keep away, but he wasn’t bothered that he would lose it so soon. All he had to do was keep it away from Agni and Shu for a while longer, then only hand it over when the solstice was coming to a close.

“Blue Spirit, return that. La has been searching everywhere for it.” Agni’s demand was fair but really, they should know he never did what he was told. He jumped up to a crouch on the branch tucking the necklace back into his dress and shook his head no.

“That’s it!” with a roar Shu lunged. The chase was on. Blue Spirit deftly leapt from branch to branch just slow enough that they thought they could catch him. He laughed when he slipped into a shadow and vanished leaving the others to spin their heads around searching for him. He allowed himself to be seen on some other tree and lead them around. They were older and more experienced than he was but this was his domain. He had picked a section of forest that was always dark and shrouded to call his own. He could keep this up forever if he wanted to.

Blue Spirit lead them around and around his little home keeping just barely out of touch that kept them chasing him. When he felt the solstice start to end, he ‘slipped’ on a branch allowing for Agni to grab him around the waist and pull him close.

“Finally! Now hand that necklace over. I mean it this time Little Flame!” Agni’s too many joints dug into his stomach and his single large eye had just a touch of amusement dancing in the red gold orb. 

Sighing heavily Blue reluctantly handed over the blue and white necklace to Shu. The older spirit snatched it from his grip.

“Don’t do that again you hear me, there are some things you just don’t do!” He simply nodded and pulled his full face on. Agni laughed at him fondly, gently setting him down on a stone and ran his long fingers through his shadow hair.

“As fun as your games are, he is right some things you shouldn’t take. Not because you can’t!” He quickly amended with his too wide mouth pulling into a strained smile.

“But because some things are very important to others and that should be respected. You wouldn’t want your swords taken from you would you?” Agni pulled his hands out of Blue’s hair leaving behind a small braid in the wreathing shadows. Blue tilted his head as guilt built up inside him, no, he really would not like that. He hadn’t thought the little necklace actually would mean something to La but right now that didn’t matter. His opening to the mortal world was closing rapidly.

“You are too soft on him Agni, he needs to learn respect!” Shu was furious and Blue couldn’t help taking a few steps back as sharp fear raced through him. Sun stood in front of him and gripped onto Earth’s shoulder. His trailing fire blocking Blue from view.

“Blue Spirit is still a child! He made a mistake, punishing him will not teach him faster!” Blue reeled back. He needed to leave, he needed to get away now. Silently he jumped off the rock and disappeared into the shadows. He stopped thinking all he knew was that he needed to get as far away as possible. He barely noticed as he slipped through the veil between the Spirit and Mortal world.

“YOU!” Shu’s voice roared and Blue stumbled back tripping over a root as the older Spirit’s hand appeared though the veil. As Agni descended from the sky the hand vanished leaving only the echo of the roar behind. Blue Spirit tried desperately to get his breathing back under control, he didn’t remember losing it in the first place.

It was near pitch black when he finally came back to himself. The darkness eased his shaking and he actually looked around himself. He was in a little forest, nothing like his claimed home with its blue leaves and glowing mushrooms but this place was just as beautiful. The sound of night animals made his white ears twitch. A cool breeze ruffled his shadowed hair.  
Tui’s gaze filtered through the green leaves landing on him, he could feel her worry for him but it was so odd for her to not actually be there to touch him. He realized that he could feel Shu’s rage and Oma’s calm through the earth below him, he could feel the Rudra’s curiosity and concern with every gust. La was distant and distracted and Agni burned in protective anger. Yet they were all disconnected. Blue could feel them but they could not truly reach him, not here.

He made it, he was in the mortal world.


	2. Sleeping and Fans

Blue Spirit wondered around the little green forest avoiding Tui’s light trailing down between the leaves. He had made a game of staying out of her gaze. Occasionally she would shift her light and catch his tail or the white crest on his head. He could feel her upset at him for leaving fade away to amusement. If he avoided the ground because of Shu’s anger radiating from it then no one was here to point it out.

He followed the sounds of the night and was thrilled when he came across his first mortal animals. Little squirrel-bats that were just so tiny and fluffy! He was so used to most spirits being larger than him that the desire to pet the little animals overwhelmed every other thought. Blue raced after the flying little things immediately forgoing his game with Tui. Distantly he could feel her laughter at his antics. 

It took a while but eventually they settled down and allowed him to get close. They were just as curious of the spirit as he was of them. Gently reaching out his hand in askance the largest one sniffed his fingers and let him touch its head. He was overly thrilled that they were as soft as they looked!

Emboldened by the largest one not being hurt the others didn’t take long to clamber all over the blue and white faced spirit. Blue stayed carefully still not wanting to startle any of them. He laughed silently as one tucked under his chin and started toying with the braid Agni had left in his hair. With all the little squirrel-bats crawling over him he finally noticed that he was no longer in the forest.

He was perched on the top of a house in a little village. The full moon bathed it in a soft silvery glow. He admired how peaceful and quiet it was. He noticed that it was really quiet, way too quiet actually. Reluctantly Blue removed his little companions from his person and watched as they flew off unbothered.

With them gone he silently vaulted down the wall of the building he was on. Keeping to the shadows he looked in the windows. The first room he looked in was empty so he moved onto the next window, and the next after that until he found one room with some odd lumps laying on a thing. He realized that those were humans. He watched for a while and came to the realization that they weren’t moving.

He reared back from the window and quickly went to another building maybe he could alert someone that there was something wrong in the first house? It took longer for him to find the humans that lived in the second house but when he did, he was horrified to find the three living here all in the same state as the first.

It didn’t take long for him to race through the town, each building with humans in it were just as still and as silent as the last. His panic built steadily with each human he found unmoving. Something was very, very wrong with this town. Were they all dead? Racing to the last building he didn’t bother looking through the windows, instead he pried the first one he saw open and leapt through it. Silently racing through the house, he eventually came to a room with a few toys laying scattered on the ground. 

Looking around in the pitch black he noticed a very little lump laying so very still in it’s raised platform that had a little cage around it. The shadows darkened around him as he approached, as much as he desperately wanted to disappear into them and get away from this too dead village he had to see.

Peaking over the rails of the cage he was greeted with the sight of the tiniest human he had ever seen. Her eyes were closed and she was swaddled in light green cloth. She looked so peaceful. This tiny little human was too young for this to have happened. Had she ever even gotten the chance to see the squirrel-bats?

Blue reached out a shaky hand and gently smoothed back the little brown curls on her head and she was so very small. He pulled off his face letting it rest on his head. It felt wrong to wear the eternal smile in the face of what happened here.

The child suddenly shifted and muttered making him jump straight up into the rafters in fright. He didn’t have the chance to register that she was alive before the most horrible scream burst from her! His ears folded down as he melted partially into the shadows under the assault. Distantly he noticed voices and then another larger human stumbled into the room. He watched in bewilderment as the child’s mother picked the screaming baby up and rocked her.

All the while shushing her and asking her to go back to sleep. Eventually the tiny human settled down, closed her eyes, and fell back to that unnerving stillness. Eventually the adult human left the room and he crept back down to where the child lay still. This time he approached like he were sneaking up on a particularly volatile spirit. She didn’t stir this time. 

As he watched her he noticed her chest rising and falling slowly the terror that had been building up in him started to go away. Just to check he found the room that the mother had went back to and found her and another human to be just as still but still breathing as well. Creeping back out of the building he settled onto the roof carefully slowing his breathing back down as he realized that no one in this town had been killed without wounds. They were just, not doing anything with their eyes closed. That adult human had called it sleep? Fine he could wait. There was no way they could sleep for very long not with how active they were when he watched them in the lake. 

He didn’t know how long he sat there for but Tui reached her peak by the time he couldn’t take it anymore. Apparently, he was wrong about how long they could sleep. He stood and silently vaulted over the rooftops back to the forest. If the humans wanted to waste a perfectly good night doing nothing then he was going to explore. The moment his feet touched the first tree he vanished and followed the first sound he heard. 

Throughout the night Blue Spirit enjoyed meeting as many animals as possible. He learned that he was on an island it wasn’t very big but it did create the problem of how to leave. However, it was when Agni started to rise once more did it truly register that he was in the mortal world. His home in the spirit world was always the same darkness. If he wanted be somewhere bright, he had to go to Agni’s domain. There was no day and night back home.

Blue could Feel Agni’s pull to him and he followed chasing beams of light breaking through the trees until he burst from the underbrush and onto soft shifting sand. It was breathtaking.  
Beautiful pinks purples and yellows lit up the morning sky. Gold glittered in the great endless expanse of water. He allowed Agni’s light to envelope him the closest the Sun could come to hugging him in this world. Agni was worried and relieved and angry but not at him. Where the light surrounding him was welcoming and caring it scorched the sand around him, furious at Earth for sending Blue away. He almost missed home. Almost.

He shook himself out of Agni’s grip sending a grateful smile to the burning orb that seemed so close yet so far. Instead he admired just how unbelievable Agni and La were now that he saw them as they existed in the mortal world. Agni like Tui last night touched everything bringing with him light life and color. He seemed so big and untouchable.

La was more present right in front of him stretching for as far as he could see and even farther. Did he ever end? Ever moving and changing, crashing on the sand somehow both loud yet quiet. And right now, he was angry, that anger was at Blue Spirit. Thinking of what he did to earn that ire guilt flooded over him again. 

Pulling his full face back on he approached the water and his guilt only grew as he watched it pull away from him. Kneeling in the too dry sand he curled up on himself looking upon the waved and held his hands out apologizing in his own way for taking the necklace. He had only wanted to play a game with La he never even considered that the necklace would be important to the elder spirit.

As Agni steadily raised over the horizon chasing away the colors and brightening the world around him. Blue Spirit felt La’s anger fade away and only when the water washed over his legs and hands did he know he was forgiven. For good measure La yanked him under the water causing him to flail out of his kneeling and back onto the beach out of La’s reach.

Using his own fire he super-heated the air around him quick drying himself without a visible flame, creating steam that swirled around him in the morning air. Blue snapped his head around at the sound of a quiet gasp behind him. He found himself staring down a human wearing an armored dress. A very pale face with red markings over her eyes. Something about her seemed familiar.

The moment she looked away he vanished back into the forest to get a better look at her. He could have sworn he’d seen someone that looked like her before. Circling behind her as she looked around quickly, he wondered what made her so jumpy.

He watched as she spun around then jumped rather violently when she saw him. He didn’t think he was that scary. Glittering gold caught his eye and he reached down to pick up a rather chunky metal thing? It seemed she dropped it in her haste to get away from him.

Blue examined the gold item with interest and found much to his surprise it unfolded into a fan. It has sharp tips and was quite heavy, perhaps a weapon then? Still he could have sworn he’d seen such a weapon before but he didn’t remember if it was something in the spirit world or something he watched in the lake.

“That’s- that’s mine.” His gaze snapped back up to the human. He watched as she closed and opened her mouth. Tilting his head curiously he studied her green dress and grey armor. The gold headdress in particular struck him as particularly familiar. She stilled and if possible, looked even paler, was she sick? What was she looking at? He tilted his head even farther almost upside down at this point and her hand shot up to her mouth.

Did-did human necks not turn this far? Was that her problem? He wondered and kept a careful eye on her face while he righted his head. The sick look left her face slowly and she lowered her hand. She took a deep calming breath and not looking at him repeated herself.

“The fan. It’s mine.” Her voice was firm but he was mostly confused as to why she wasn’t looking at him. Shrugging that off for now he looked back at the fan. She had another in her hand so he figured the one he was holding was part of a pair, like his swords. He sighed it probably wasn’t something he should take then.

“Suki! Did you find anything?” Blue startled so hard he ended up melting back into the shadows and behind a rock. Five humans just pushed through the trees and he watched as they carted off the human talking about patrolling the beach.   
He still had her weapon. It was bad enough he was seen by one human how was he supposed to get it back to her when she was surrounded by so many others?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have nothing to say other than Bluko finding humans weird.


	3. Suprise Battle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok this was fun trying to figure out how to change perspectives.

Suki had been prepared for an intruder, even prepared to fight on her own since she had decided to scout ahead of the others. This? She was decidedly not prepared to face down a spirit. And what else could it possibly be? Not a human with the way it was dragged completely underwater in only two inches.

Despite herself she couldn’t stop the gasp that escaped her when she saw the black figure fling itself out of the water practically glowing, light shifting around it like it wasn’t sure if it could settle on the creature. 

If the being didn’t know she was there before it certainly knew she was there now. Its head swiveled around to so quickly and she found herself staring directly into its empty black eyes. She couldn’t remember to even breath taking in that vicious grinning blue and white face. 

Not sure what to do she tore her gaze from the spirit desperately hoping to see the others but no such luck. Finding that the spirit was suddenly gone was terrifying. There was no sound, no footprints in the sand. It was like it had never even been there! She looked around equal parts hoping to see it and hoping it were gone. 

It was all she could do to stifle a scream when it just appeared behind her an inch from her face. So desperate to put some space between her and the entity she dropped one of her fans. Suki finally felt like she could breathe when it turned its black eyes to her fan, examining it like it were the most interesting thing in the world. 

It gave her a chance to observe the spirit. He, she, it? She wasn’t sure, was dressed in a black dress that cut off just above the knee with a slit in one side, alluding to a preference for mobility and using one’s legs in battle. Its cloth like tail twitched along with the white ears on the side of its head as it opened and closed her fan.

That irked her, it was holding the fan carefully yes but the spirit’s grip was all wrong! It was poking at the sharp tips and flipping it every which way.

“That’s mine.” She regretted her words the moment they slipped out because those empty eyes were suddenly back on her. Its head tilted and kept tilting and Spirits above necks don’t turn that far. She felt sick and her own neck felt a little sore in sympathy. Its head turned practically upside down and it was so hard to look, was it rude to spirit stair in the first place?  
She thanked whatever was watching her when its head righted itself and not wanting to make this situation worse for her she carefully avoided looking at it.

“The fan, it’s mine.” Why did she talk again? Yes she wanted her fan back but that was the most unbelievably stupid-!

“Suki! Did you find anything!” And with that the spirit was gone. The other girls showed up and whisked her away. For the rest of the day she was barely aware of what happened. Going through the motions the others were worried but she didn’t know what to tell them. What could she even say?

Hey I just saw a spirit would just appear and vanish at random and stole one of my fans without a word! Who would even believe her? No one that’s who. 

The worst part of the event was that it stole her fan! Sure, there were others that she could use but this pair had been her mothers, it was all she had left of hers. She had decided to stay in the dojo for the night to train off her anger. No one wanted to leave her alone for the night due to how out of it she had been, but she was aware enough to wave them off assuring that she was fine and just tired. 

She trained well into the night and eventually was forced to lay down, frustrated and angry at that spirit. What had she even done that caused it to take her fan? Was it the staring? Was she supposed to bow to spirits? She groaned and screwed her eyes shut tightly. She didn’t know how long she laid there in the flickering candlelight but after a while it felt like something was watching her. 

The air got far too warm for her liking and the hairs on her neck stood on end. Peaking open one eye she was met with a blue and white grinning face far, far too close to her own. Her heart leapt into her throat and without thinking she shot her hand out decking it square in the nose. Hard.

Suki scrambled up into a crouch fast enough to watch the spirit roll back and vanish in the shadows just outside the candle light. Suki took stance inside the light looking desperately for the spirit. She never regretted having only one candle as badly as she did now. 

Her anger at the spirit for stealing her mother’s fan gave her a second wind. She had already punched the spirit so screw it! If she was going to be cursed or killed, she wouldn’t go quietly. A slight shift in the shadows was all the warning she had before she was fighting for her life.

\-----------

Blue lunged at the human. He had followed her around all day waiting for when she was alone and then when he finally got the chance to give her weapon back she attacks him? Fine if she wanted a fight then a fight she would get! He latched onto her shoulders and pushed her down but she used his momentum to flip him over her head. 

He landed cleanly and used the motion to spin on the ground lashing out with a kick that she just barely was able to dodge. With a yell she made the first move this time and struck out with a quick succession of punches and jabs that had Blue on the defensive.

\----------

Suki grunted as the spirit slipped past her assault and landed a solid hit to her chest. She was able to land a solid kick to its feet knocking it down only for it to twist in a way she had never seen and forcing her back to avoid its legs and tail. Suki was impressed with the way that no matter what she or it did it never made a sound. The spirit was fluid and seemingly used an amalgamation of many different styles making it impossible to predict its next move.

The being flipped back upright and they slowly circled one another looking for a break in each other’s stance. It keeping just outside the ring of light and she keeping in it. Had they not met in broad daylight she would have thought the smaller being was afraid of the light.

She moved first this time, striking out with her remaining fan and forcing the spirit to twist around unnaturally to avoid taking the bladed weapon to the neck. Smooth as silk it pulled out its own sword using it to block her fan.

\----------

Blue Spirit was thrilled with the chance to see the human use her weapon. He had watched her training and was absolutely fascinated. This human was good, really good. As far as he could tell she was only a little older than the others had told him he had been in life. She treated her fan much like he did his dow, as extensions of one’s self.

He knew he was running out of time, all the noise they were making. Already he could feel little fires being lit in nearby homes. He still had to return the fan he had accidentally taken but now he really wanted to fight the human when she had both. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t get that chance tonight. 

He reared back into a cartwheel away from her bladed fan. Coming to a halt just out of her reach he smoothly put his swords back in their sheath upon his back. Before the human could attack again, he held out her fan.

\----------

Suki’s breath was ragged as she stared down the Spirit standing straight not looking the slightest bit winded. In its outstretched hand was her fan. She didn’t know what was happening but right now she dared not so much as blink to miss a thing. Once again, she was reminded that this was a powerful spirit and she had done many a stupid move tonight.

Tentatively she took her fan from its clawed fingers. Once she had it, she took a few steps away from the being. It smile seemed to soften perhaps and it’s body vanished amongst the dark leaving only the blue face behind. Whatever spell it had her under was broken by the door being wrenched open. It was gone. 

A few of the townsfolk and other warriors came in to worry over her. With more candles to light up the room she could see what looked like claw marks gouged into the wood and things knocked over from her fight with the spirit.

“Suki what happened here are you ok?” Someone asked but she didn’t pay attention to who, all she could do was stair at where the spirit had last been.

“A spirit…It was a blue spirit.” She muttered. She ignored the others shocked gasps and worried whispers, instead looking down at her returned fan. She didn’t know what happened but that spirit had attacked her. Suki did not want to think what would have happened if it had decided to target anyone other than her or the other warriors.

She had managed to fend it off and earn her fan back this night but if it were still around it was a threat to her people. Tomorrow she would go to one of the elders and find ways to ward off Spirits but tonight she would rest. She would need it should that Blue Spirit still be on Kyoshi Island.


	4. Unagi

Blue Spirit watched from his perch on one of the neighboring buildings from the dojo as the fight happy human was led out. His nose still hurt from that unexpected punch. Honestly, she was lucky that he had enjoyed that fight as much as he did but he would get back at her for that. He followed the group from the rooftops, knowing where she lived would help with that.  
Turns out her house was just up the hill from the dojo. It was small but looked in good condition if you ignored the shattered remains of what he was sure used to be targets. Blue sighed and turned away when he noted only some of the humans left the house, those that remained with the fight happy one went in with her. Sure, he could sneak in but he figured one little punch wasn’t worth that much effort. 

Committing the house to memory he wondered the darkened streets slipping in and out of whatever building caught his eye. The first was simple with tables scattered about. Interesting little items here and there. Curious he moved or picked up whatever caught his eye. He ended up snagging a small knife on his way out. That was the first of many buildings he went into. Some had people and some were empty. He didn’t understand why humans had so many empty buildings but he figured it was just another weird thing about them. 

After exiting a house where he had left a stolen doll with the little human living there, he came to a halt under a tall statue of a human woman. Despite the faded paint he could clearly make out the same eye markings that the human Suki had. He was struck with a very strong since of familiarity again.

Blue had seen this human he was sure of it. Tui lit up the statue brighter and realization struck him. Avatar Kyoshi! He had met her once back when he was still hurting. La had introduced him to the previous lives of the Avatar. His vision had still been at a point where no one was sure if he would be able to see at all once healed but he remembered those unique face markings and gold headdress the most.

Kyoshi had taken one look at his injured topless form and had gifted him his black dress. It was the first thing he had owned besides his pants and swords so it meant the world to him at the time, it still did. Blue lightly fingered the hem of the dress then bowed lightly to the statue in another form of thanks before moving past it.

Now he knew exactly which island he was on but that still left the issue of what he was to do now. He hadn’t exactly thought about what to do once he actually got to this world. He had realized quickly that he didn’t like the idea of being seen by the humans as a spirit. His watching them all day had proved that they acted differently with one another than what Suki had with him. But constantly hiding in the shadows was just as unappealing. As much the darkness was his domain, he was still a creature of fire. Tossing his new knife a few more times he decided to just explore some more for now.

* * *

Suki didn’t sleep well that night, not after her brush with the Spirit. Exhausted she dragged herself out of bed and got dressed for the day as fast as she could and rushed out, thankfully without waking the others that stayed the night.

She had to force herself to slow down. The village was still asleep save for one other, the elder Minih. As the only one truly knowledgeable about spirits on the island Suki hoped the old woman would be able to help. Seeing her up ahead she had made sure to keep a steady pace and not rush.

When she got close enough the old woman smiled at her and motioned her to sit. Suki knelt down in front of her elder.

“Suki dear, I’m surprised to see you awake this early. Would you like some tea?” The Kyoshi warrior accepted the cup.

“I hope I’m no bother but I came to … request to learn from you. To learn about the spirits and how to defend from them should the need arise.” There was a long pause between the two of them when finally, Minih smiled brightly.

“It would be a pleasure to teach you dear.” They finished their tea and moved to talk inside Minih’s house where she brought out scroll after scroll on spirits. The older woman had moved to the island almost a year ago after her home was destroyed by the fire nation. Looking at all the knowledge on spirits she had to offer Suki was glad the woman chose to retire here. 

They talked well into the afternoon and Suki left with many scrolls three of which were on how to ward spirits off. She almost dropped them when she found the village people practically rioting. So, the spirit struck the town after she fended it off. She gripped one of the scrolls tighter. It would seem she needed to get defenses up now, there was no time to wait.

* * *

Blue Spirit watched as the village fell into chaos. His laughter downed out by all the yelling. The humans blamed each other for their things having been moved or missing. Kyoshi’s warriors were the most entertaining as they fumbled around attempting to keep the peace. If this is what the mortals were like with such a minor trick on his part then this island would prove to be far more fun than expected. He could feel Agni trying to scold him but the laughter in the light kept Blue from taking him seriously.

He grew bored as the humans eventually settled down as they started to find their missing items scattered about town from where he’d dropped them. With the warriors busy and not patrolling the beaches perhaps he could follow La’s pulling towards the water.

Rolling back into the shadows it didn’t take him long to reach the beach and what he saw in the water was incredible. A giant black snake like fish swimming about in the water. He could feel La happily showing it off. He and the ocean steadfastly ignored the disappointed resigned feeling coming from Agni, Oma, and Shu. The others called La a bad influence on Blue but La always had the best things to show off and right now he had to get a closer look.

He shifted allowing his body to elongate and legs vanish. In seconds he was in dragon form and swimming quickly up towards the fish. He could swim well enough in his human like form but he was much, much faster like this. It didn’t take long for the fish to notice him and it was so much bigger than he was. It circled him curiously. Blue copied some of its movements and that seemed to satisfy it. The sea serpent nudged him with its nose and moved away frequently looking back to make sure he was following. Blue was more than happy to trail along after it.  
He wasn’t sure if the fish knew he was a spirit or not but through the rest of the day it showed him all the best places under the water. Sunken ships, the absolutely stunning reef, all the elephant-koi. Though those avoided the giant serpent. Most notably there was a sudden drop off just outside the bay that seemingly went down forever. 

The fish startled him by gently biting his middle and dragging him down the drop off. None of it’s sharp teeth broke his black scales as it pulled him down into the dark depth. La laughing all the while. Eventually a light pinkish purplish glow lit up the darkness. His eyes widened when they came to this absolutely massive cave with corals and crystals growing out of the walls. That wasn’t the most incredible thing about the cave however

A nest of three eggs were nestled against the back wall. They were slightly clear with their pink and purple centers glowing brightly. His giant companion brought him right up to the eggs then let him go allowing him to move on his own again. Circling the eggs, he found a hole where it looked like there had been a fourth egg. Something had happened to that egg. The nose of the serpent like fish gently pushed him down to rest in that hole only for it to circle around him and the eggs creating a protective wall with its body.

He realized he may have misunderstood why the fish was so willing to have him around. Something had happened to one of its eggs and it had decided that he was its missing child. This had been a mistake, a really bad mistake. He wasn’t a fish he was a spirit dragon! He still had to breath as well! Feeling the need for air he took the chance and bolted from the cave and straight up. The giant fish screeched its dislike for him leaving and gave chase. He was just able to break the surface of the water and take in as big a breath as he could before teeth carefully clamped back down around him and dragged him under again.

He was pulled right back to the nest and was given a look that just dared him to try again. He glared right back. He could hold his breath for a long time but he was not staying with this creature, no matter how incredible it was. 

After every time he had to leave it kept pulling him back into the cave where it nudged him next to the eggs and would curl around them all. He could feel La’s laughter at his difficulty in getting away from the animal that apparently decided he was one of its own. 

It was dark by the time he finally managed to give it the slip. Sliding back on the beach he burned the water off him and shifted back to his base form. As fun as it was being adopted by the giant fish he did not want to stay there forever. That made swimming across the ocean no longer an option of getting off the island. Not that he wanted to do that in the first place but he did not want to have that giant fish following him around trying to take care of him thank you very much.

Tui had long since taken her place in the sky when he made it back to the outskirts of the village. Something felt off. His head tilted and he paused right in front of the thing that felt wrong. It looked like nothing but he was certain that something was there. Reaching forward slowly the moment his hand grazed whatever it was they burned. Yanking his hand back to his chest from whatever it was he held it close. 

It wasn’t even close to what he had been born feeling but it still hurt! Heat raised in his chest along side his anger. Blowing out a cloud of smoke at the invisible barrier he seethed watching the smoke crackle when it touched it though it still passed through. Someone dared to think they could keep him out? He would show them.

Stalking around the town he searched for any opening or any hint of what was keeping him out. What he found was several stones with spells painted on them circling around the village. They were simple but effective, essentially being a protection spell against spiritual forces. Looking at them closely he realized that the only reason it hurt him was due to the form he took.  
Melting into a shadow he slipped past without so much as a sting. Once inside he reformed completely unharmed. He picked up one of the stones and dragged his claws through it breaking the spell causing the barrier to fall apart. Gripping the stone tighter he stalked into the town, shadows trailing his steps. Within the town. Scaling the nearest building he took to the rooftops. It didn’t take him long to find the human responsible.

The warrior Suki was patrolling the streets alone. A spell carved into the metal of her armor. She thought he was a problem? Fine, he would become a problem. As she passed below him he dropped the rock just in front of her. She startled and looked terrified as she recognized exactly what she was looking at.  
Good.

* * *

She knew that rock, it was one of the ones she had used to create that barrier. If that was here then. Her breath caught in her throat as the air around suddenly felt far too hot. There was no sound save for her own heart sounding like everyone could hear it and a ringing in her ears.

She took startled steps back as the shadows grew darker, creeping closer and closer towards her. A blue face appeared in the darkness far too close and she was barely able to leap out of the way of a sword aimed at her chest. Even then sparks flew from where the blade scraped against her armor.

The protective spells were supposed to work! Just how powerful was this blue spirit?! She spun her fans out prepared to fight once more but the spirit was nowhere to be seen. Sound rushed back to her, animals chirping, the breeze brought with it a chill, and the shadows receded back to normal. Feeling along her chest plate there was now a long gash in the metal that cut straight through the protection spell she had placed there but thankfully no wound. She let out the breath she had been holding. The spirit was gone, for now. It would be back and she would be ready.

* * *

Blue Spirit watched as the human go back to patrolling. She didn’t know it but he had left a little more than just a scratch on her armor. If she wanted to get so involved with spirits then so be it his little gift would draw minor spirits to her whenever she wears the armor and who knows how long that would take. For now he slipped into the house he was perched on. Rubbing his hands together he got to work. Last night he had been mostly curious but now he was going to cause problems on purpose. The first thing that caught his eye were cushions. Those would work nicely

* * *

The next morning the humans woke to all their pillows and anything soft they owned missing. They blamed one another until one of the children pointed up into the trees where the pillows and blankets were pinned creating shapes of animals. No one had any explanation on how they had gotten to in the trees or how no one had noticed when they were stolen in the first place.  
He laughed when the mortals started talking about a prankster having some fun. The fight happy human told them of the spirit she had encountered. Only a few believed her. He admired how determined she was to protect her people from him. Well, it was proving to be quite entertaining.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> La is an enabler.


	5. Accidental Theft

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now this chapter was fully inspired by a comment from ThatOnePerson67. It was a much better way of getting things moving than what I had planned before.  
> (Also anything that looks like this _'words'_ are thoughts

Blue Spirit watched as the humans went about their days growing steadily more and more paranoid. Each new day they would wake to another of his tricks. He had started off just moving things around in the houses. Swapping items from house to house, simple. They even thought it was the work of some prankster. His favorite so far was when he stole all their shoes and coins leading them on an inane scavenger hunt. It was oh so entertaining watching them figure out who got what coins. He didn’t know how they could tell them apart as far as he was concerned the little pieces of metal all looked the same.

However, as the warrior Suki’s protections got better his tricks became more elaborate. The one that made them realize it was the work of a spirit was when he had stolen sound for a few days. Suki had decided she would try seal him away in some shield, so he had been particularly vindictive. That had been one full moon ago. Today he had sabotaged wagons, tools, shelves, stands, and so on. It would be fun watching them struggle as everything broke around them if he weren’t so incredibly frustrated.

He had yet to figure out how to get off the island. He tried swimming but as expected the Unagi followed him and as it turns out the giant fish was several times faster than he was. Who would have thought? It took him several days to escape it a second time.

Now he was lounging in a tree close enough for him to see the village but not close enough for them to spot him. Laying his head back he closed his eyes and allowed Agni’s soothing light to wash over him. The light filtered through his shadows like a sad mockery of Agni running his fingers though them making braids.

He missed home dearly. As fun as the humans were this island was like a cage. At least in the spirit world he had so much to explore and see. Here he had seen the entire island several times over. This whole trip was a mistake. He had wanted to help and mess with the humans more directly but if he couldn’t even get off this stupid island then what could he even hope he could do elsewhere!

A tug at his tail startled him out of his depressing thoughts so much so that he fell right out of the branch and collapsed on the ground in a heap. Blue lifted his head unaware of the leaf on top of it to a high-pitched laughing. A small human child stood laughing at him, the end of his cloth tail still in her grip. He sat up and almost immediately she crawled onto his lap.

Unsure what to do Blue Spirit froze. Her hands found his face. The tiny human tugged on his white ears and the crest on his head. Traced over the white ridges. He reared back as one of her fingers found its way inside an eye hole. She shuffled and he had to put a hand on her back to keep her from falling off. 

Raising her hand again she knocked against his forehead making a dull woody thunk. A bit confused Blue raised his free hand and gently knocked on her forehead. She giggled and scrambled off him.

“Wait there!” She ordered and ran back towards the village. Completely bewildered he found himself listening. He had no idea how long he sat there but when she returned, she was not alone. Trailing after her were five other children no older than she was. One was so tiny that he still waddled when he walked. 

Blue Spirit didn’t know what happened. One second, he was staring down the gaggle of children the next he was on flat on his back with them crawling all over him. He could feel Oma and Agni practically cooing over him and the children. He didn’t have it in him to push them off they were just so, so very small.

One was rolling and unrolling his tail. Two were curled up against his side doing that sleep thing because apparently humans did that during the day too. Another had captured one of his hands and was marveling over his claws. The original child was dumping leaves on his head while the tiniest human was sitting on his chest absolutely enamored with his shadow hair. This was his existence now. He would forever be trapped under six small humans. Was this another trap of Suki’s? How diabolical, she finally defeated him. Destruction by human children, what a way to go.

A tiny hand pulled him out his musings by yanking on his ear. Blue spirit huffed and blew colorful embers at the sky. The children still awake froze and marveled at the floating rainbow of colors. The original girl tried to catch them but they faded away before she could touch the little flames. She laughed and demanded he do it again and for once he couldn’t find it in him to fight against orders.

Before he could make more embers both the children messing with his tail and the tiniest one was ripped off him.

“GIVE THEM BACK YOU MONSTER!” A human screamed at him. Blue Spirit melted into the shadows and reformed standing protectively in front of the remaining kids. It was the warrior Suki setting down the two she stole off him behind her. With her attention on him he used his shadows to hide the two she took and pushed them behind him with the others.

With them so close there was no way to fight safely without risk of hurting the tiny humans. But apparently no one told Suki that. She lunged and he was forced to block her sharp fans with his swords and shove her back. Blue stayed stubbornly rooted just the way Oma and Shu had showed him

* * *

“You don’t get to keep them!” She yelled, lunging once more aiming for the Spirit’s legs. It Held fast and pushed her back once more a shallow cut stinging on her hand from where its blade had cut her. He heart was in her throat and all she could hear was ringing. She knew there were spirits that stole children. She knew they existed. After breaking through every last one of the protective spells she had and even ones that were meant to seal away even the strongest of spirits.

Despite all this she had not thought the Blue Spirit was one of the kinds that stole children. It had never touched them beyond when it had managed to place everyone on the roofs while they slept. It had never messed with cribs or toys beyond swapping them around. Not once this past month and a half had it shown even an interest in the children. 

But here it was with six children no older than five years old. She managed to force the Blue Spirit to move yet all it did was slide to the side. Its root was just as strong as an earthbender’s. There was no twisting of its swords like usual, no movement that wasn’t strictly necessary.

She was stuck in a stalemate with the spirit. It unwilling to yield and her unwilling to give up. After shoving her back time and time again she finally managed to get it to really move. Leaping over her fan the spirit bounced off the surrounding trees and just suddenly vanished. Her breath ragged she waited for it to return but it never did. 

Slowly she allowed herself to relax and take count of the kids. Her heart dropped. One was missing. The spirit got the smallest. Rin was gone.

* * *

Blue Spirit had not expected to find himself rolling down a steep drop but here he was! The tiniest of the children tucked securely to his chest as he tumbled head over heels down the hill. Crashing into trees, rocks and bushes. It hadn’t taken him long to realize that the warrior was not a threat to the human young but by then the smallest had apparently decided it would be a good idea to walk off a cliff! He had immediately abandoned the fight to catch the kid.

Blue slid to a stop at the base of the hill. Everything hurt so he decided to just lay there for a while. Why was there a cliff so close to the village anyway? And Why was it so easy to forget it existed to begin with? A small hand slapping his face and a very happy giggling brought him out of his thoughts. Luckily the child was not injured, in fact he looked like that whole trip down the hill was the most fun he had in his entire life!

Blue Spirit rolled onto his back allowing the child to sit on him and it didn’t take long for the very tiny hands to find their way back into his shadows. The sand under him was warm and the sound of the little pond next to him was calming. 

_‘I stole a child!’_ He sat up abruptly causing the very mortal and fragile human to fall into his lap giggling all the while. Tiny chubby hands reached up and yanked on the strap of his swords. 

He hadn’t meant to steal a child! How was he supposed to give it back? He didn’t know the first thing about human children! He was barely a season old how was he supposed to take care of a kid?! What if he killed it!!

While the Spirit panicked little Rin managed to stand up and started tugging on the blue and white face, pulling and prodding at whatever he could reach. Agni’s light surrounded Blue trying to relax him but it was Rudra’s slow and steady gusts of wind that made him start to get his breathing back under control. In 1, 2, 3, hold, out 1, 2, 3 and repeat.

Shakily, he lifted his hands and placed them on the child’s sides and oh he was so, so tiny. He could almost wrap his hands fully around the small brunet. With his newfound sturdiness the toddler grew even more bold. Leaning forward to trace the white marks on Blue’s face. Touching the spirit’s nose then touching his own nose with his free hand. Like the child was recognizing the similarity-oh.

Oh this could work. Blue Spirit had a half a face that looked very human. He carefully released one hand from the child to slide his full face to cover over his bad ear revealing his half face.  
Large brown eyes widened and immediately those tiny hands were exploring his half face with renewed fever. Blue did the same. Tilting the kid’s head this way and that gently just to see how far humans could tilt their heads. The spirit picked the child up from his armpits up to eye level. He noted the tiny ears, flat teeth, and hair that was made of tiny strands rather than wreathing shadows which the child’s hand once again found.

If he could turn into a dragon despite the impossibility of it then he should be able to look like a human. He focused on exactly what he wanted to change then shifted. His ears shortened, teeth dulled slightly, and his hair fell into a curtain of solid black and deep blue just grazing his shoulders. The child took delight in the suddenly solid hair and immediately started tugging on it.

Blue Spirit glanced at his reflection in the water and winced a little, he was close but his good ear was still too long and teeth still to sharp. Though he was certain he couldn’t take away the point to his ear or all his teeth's sharpness he could do better than this. Ever so gently he untangled the child's hand from his hair. He placed the child back down on his lap and studied his face once more. If he could get it close enough, he just may have both a way to return the human he stole and a way to blend in with the humans well enough to get off this island.

* * *

Telling Rin’s parents that he was taken by the Blue Spirit had been the hardest thing she had ever done. A small crowd was gathered around the distraught mother trying to comfort her while her husband and a few others were trying to come up with a plan to get his son back. By now it had been two hours and who knows what that spirit did to Rin in that time. To make matters worse the bimonthly trade ships were on the horizon and would at the island soon.

Parents were holding their own children close to themselves and no one payed any attention to the five youngest who kept saying the blue faced man was fun. Their parents just shushed them and lectured them about just what kind of danger they had been in. The kids weren’t having it though and it took several adults and Kyoshi warriors to keep an eye on them or else they try to escape and run off into the forest. It was madness.

“QUIET!” Suki’s voice cut through all the noise silencing everyone.

“I know what happened is scary but we can’t just storm the forest and go fight the Blue Spirit! Normally I would say that is what we should do but Rin is with it. I made the mistake of doing just that and lost Rin. I checked with Minih, both she and I believe the best course of action is to find something to trade for Rin.”

Murmurs ran through the crowd. Several people already offering up things of theirs that they knew the spirit had taken interest in from the previous nights. Some mentioned the trade ships, perhaps the Blue Spirit would accept something new? Slowly the people dispersed going to find things to try and trade.

Soon enough Suki was left alone with Rin’s mother and Furious father. He marched right up to her and towering over her.

“If I don’t get my son back you-!”

“I will get him back, even if I have to trade my own life for his.” She cut him off, her words making him back off with a small nod. He still looked mad but he would accept that. Suki was willing to trade anything to get the child she couldn’t protect back. 

She made her way to the statue of Avatar Kyoshi, as much as she hoped the Blue faced spirit would accept an item for Rin she knew better. Spirits rarely traded for less. It would come down to a life for a life. She had failed to protect Rin so it was her life that was forfeit now. Kneeling before the founder of the island she prepared herself for what was to come.


	6. Returning the Child

Sailors of all sizes rushed to and from their boats carrying goods of all kinds in the hopes of selling the people of Kyoshi Island. In the madness no one noticed an extra pair of eyes watching their movements from behind sea slicked stones. Which was exactly what Blue Spirit was hopping for. The humans were so busy and packed into this tiny little port that no one would even notice an extra body. 

The spirit’s head tilted slightly, mind already running wild with possibilities on how to sneak aboard one of the visiting ships. For the entire time he had been here there had been no seafaring ships and now there were at least ten docked alongside the islanders fishing vessels. He reared back at a sharp tug on the back of his head. The tiny child on his shoulders bursting into laughter at the sudden movement.

Right, the human. He had to return the tiny thing before he could leave. He huffed and reached back to try and halt the bouncing child but it was no use. The fiend simply captured his fingers in a surprisingly tight grip. The other very small hand resolutely stayed tangled in his hair. Shifting it so the the shoulder length strands tickled his cheek and neck. Blue shuttered at the unfamiliar sensation.

It didn’t take long to free his hand and he returned his gaze to the new humans. His ears were short enough to be covered by his hair and his teeth were only slightly pointed, no one should give him a second glance. He hoped.

Still he snuck past the humans to place himself behind one of their stacks of crates. He was so, so close and if this worked, he could travel the world without feeling the need to hide away. Blue took a steadying breath to calm the nervous fire in his chest. Agni’s light curled around him, steadying his anxieties. The ground underfoot shifted, an encouraging push from Oma.  
With the next large human that past him by he stepped out into the open for the first time since that morning he had arrived in this world. Forcing his steps and posture to stay steady he marched right alongside the visitors heading for the town. 

Fire leapt into his throat every time a human drew too close and spent just a little too long looking at him. He forced the flames to stay inside but that didn’t stop his rising fear. There were just, so many of them and they were so much larger than he was. What was wrong with him? He was a Spirit! These mortals had no clue how to destroy him! Blue couldn’t stop his hands from gripping the child’s ankles tightly when one particularly angry looking man gave him a suspicious look. He glared right back, a scowl planted firmly on his face just daring the man to do something.

The man actually looked away sharply, his expression uneasy. That, Blue hadn’t expected that. The fire in his chest eased as he was able to make the humans heads turn from him when they stared for too long. His sharp ear catching them muttering about his scar, that something so tiny shouldn’t be that scary. He stood a little straighter at that his fire cooling. 

The humans were intimidated by him, even with a baby bouncing on his shoulders. Yet, they didn’t freeze at the sight of him not like Suki had done that first morning. They weren’t scared of him pulling tricks on them. To the mortals he was just another human. Even the people he had been tormenting didn’t give him a second glance to focused on something. Gold eyes watched in bewilderment as the humans he had messed with for so long had gathered items of all kinds though it was the blades and things that were blue that caught his eye. One was even bringing out a pretty teacup with simple blue flowers painted on it’s side that had caught his eye several nights ago.

A faint grin stretched across his face, just what were these people doing? Even the visitors were noticing the odd behavior since no one seemed even interested in so much as looking at the goods let alone buying anything. The child babbled, slapping the top of his head and he simply nodded. Glad that even the tiny thing noticed that the adults were acting weird.

* * *

The towns folk gathered again paying no mind to the traders trying to sell their goods. That could wait, Rin could not and every minute they waited to go and try and trade for the child was another minute the poor boy could be tortured by the spirit.

Her grey eyes looked over each item that was brought as a hopeful trade, some had just simple ribbons or flowers. Some had family heirlooms. Most notably was that almost everything was some shade of blue. Suki couldn’t help wondering if that was chosen thanks to them knowing the thief as the Blue Spirit. 

That didn’t matter now though. Suki closed her eyes and took a few shaky breaths. She would be lying if she said she wasn’t terrified. She was fourteen and soon she would be at the mercy of the Spirit she had failed to stop. Considering what she had done, punching it, trying to send it away, attacking it, even attempting to seal it in a shield. The spirit had every motive to take her and destroy her.

Her hands shook despite her futile attempt to keep them from doing so. Se looked over the gathered crowd as they prepared to storm the surrounding forest. Her eyes winded and her breath caught in her throat.

There standing at the edge of the people she had sworn to protect was what looked like a young girl in all black and secured on her shoulders unharmed and alive was Rin. Her feet were moving before she even knew she stood up. Sprinting for the two.

“RIN!” She exclaimed and the crowd immediately snapped to attention. Suki barely registered Rins parent’s strangled yells of his name or relief she didn’t know. She reached the girl and the blissfully unharmed baby first. She knew those clothes. Knee length dress, all black, a long sash with one end trailing in the dirt. Now up close she couldn’t tell if this person was a girl or a boy and those eyes! No one, not even people from the Firenation had eyes that gold, that bright they practically glowed.

Anger bubbled up in her chest, she knew them. She had only seen them once in day light but even without it’s grinning face she would recognize it anywhere. The Blue Spirit. Before she could stop herself, she pointed an accusing finger at them.

“You!” She ground out and the spirit with a shockingly human face just stared unblinkingly with too gold eyes. Even crouched was it was with arms in odd positions and a baby on it’s shoulders the Spirit still somehow made chills run up her spine. They looked no older than she was and so unsettling human. Did it steal that face? Were there spirits that could steal faces?

Two humans rushed into Blue’s space forcing his attention from the warrior to the adults crowding him. He did not like it one bit but the relief on their faces gave him pause. The woman plucked the tiny human off his shoulders, deftly untangling the baby’s hands from his hair.

“Rin! My baby! You’re safe, he’s safe!” The mother practically smothered the babe in her arms pressing her face to his fluffy brown hair. The father’s hand pressed heavily on Blue’s shoulder and he couldn’t help stiffening under the touch.

“Thank you! Thank you! Where did you even find him? We though he was-that we’d never see him again.” Blue shrugged the large man’s hand off and pointed back towards the docks. 

“By the-just wondering around all on his own? Nothing with him?” At his suspicious tone Blue crossed his arms defensively and simply shrugged. The man laughed, a sound full of emotions Blue couldn’t place and the hand returned. He scowled and pulled away again. Brown eyes softened and his expression changed to something Blue did not think he liked one bit.

“Thank you for bringing my son back to us, is there anyway we can repay you?” Blue looked between the father, and the mother only to find her attention on him now too. Worry written in her eyes. He liked that less than the complicated look the father wore. Blue waved them off and turned to leave but a smaller hand on his forearm stopped him. Gold locked with grey and he glared at the taller warrior.

“Is there any way we can repay you, please.” The air around him felt charged in a way he had only ever heard of from Agni. Whatever this was it was important in a way he didn’t quite understand. He stared Suki down long enough to see her mouth set into a straight line and her gaze hardened. He could feel her hand shaking against his arm. He really didn’t like that.   
Blue Spirit flickered his gaze around quickly for something, anything to get out of this. Gold landed on the teacup from before clutched in one of the mother’s hands. Something about it was familiar. Of all the blades and things that were actually useful it was the little white and blue teacup that held his attention. The adult woman thankfully noticed what he was looking at and keeled down before him and offering him the teacup.

Blue gingerly took it from her and it small, made of wood, painted white with blue flowers. It was cracked and hand a chip cut out of its rim. It was beautiful. Blue nodded and gripped the cup closer to him, he accepted the offering. The charge in the air dissipated, washing over him and the others. They owed him nothing now. The humans didn’t seem to feel what he had, how odd. Agni had told him of offerings and debts. He knew many other spirits would ask for more but this little blue thing was enough for him. 

Only when he looked back at Suki did she let him go. She was thence and yet he could practically feel the relief running off her in waves. Well whatever her problem was he wanted nothing to do with it. Actually, she was still rather close and she had tried to do everything in her power to get rid of him. Subtly he scratched the pommel of her katana little shadows settling into the tiny mark.

She was the only one that noticed what he did and he grinned, it was a malicious thing with too much teeth, just enough to be unsettling. Oh sure thanks to her armor little spirits had taken an interest in her following her around like lost turtleducks but this? He was sure she would get a kick out of it. His little gift would make crossing water a bit of a hazard if she had the blade with her. After all, once he was gone there would be no one to keep the Unagi company. Who better than the warrior? With that he turned on his heal and marched right back towards freedom from this island cage.

* * *

Suki glared after the spirit but for once she didn’t dare follow her deep seeded desire to fight it off. The Blue Spirit had willingly returned Rin to them unharmed and perfectly safe if not a little hungry. Her hand came to rest over where the being had scratched her sword. 

She watched it until it vanished into the crowd of sailors. They got lucky with this spirit, it seemed like it truly was not one that stole away children. Just another malicious trick. She would give it a pass just this once. A loud crash to her left lifted a gust of dirt into her eyes and she cursed. Despite the single good thing that spirit had done it was still wreaking havoc. Everything was falling apart. She would find a way to keep the spirit from breaking through her protections.

Yet something about the way it vanished, the scratch it left in her blade, somehow that felt like a goodbye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! finally finished with this one! Suki gave me a bit of trouble she very much wanted to fight Bluko but that is not what needed to happen at all.


	7. Leaving

The street was crowded and loud, merchants calling out their wears and people haggling prices. The support beams holding up a fruit stand collapsed, the cloth for shade falling down onto the unsuspecting people under it. Blue Spirit grinned listening to the islander who owned the stand cursing his name, scrambling to keep her fruits from scattering all over the road to no avail. 

He deftly side stepped the fruits as they rolled into his path, already other islanders and some of the visitors had stopped to help clean up. No one payed him any mind. Blue smoothly weaved around people as they went about their day. Turns out those little metal disks were used to trade for items. He still didn’t get it but it’s not like he had any need for the coins. The longer he was out in the open and hardly noticed the more he relaxed. Rather he found himself enjoying watching the people from up close.

Here in the thick of the crowd he could clearly hear what everyone was saying and it was endlessly entertaining to listen to the people he has tormented curse his name. Shu had always told him that you had to speak your name once for a human to know it. Well looks like he proved Shu wrong again. He stomped on the ground a little harder for good measure when he heard two islanders whispering that they can’t tell the sailors about him to one another. Blue could practically hear Shu’s grumpy huffing.

“Rare Water tribe wears here! You there! Lovely girl in the black! You look like you have good taste!” Blue’s head snapped around to the rather sleazy looking human just to his left. He glanced around not seeing anyone else wearing all black. There was no way he was talking to Blue right?

“Yes you! Come take a look at these beautiful rarities!” Alright so the man could be talking to Blue. Unsure he walked up to the man’s makeshift stand. Bone clubs, fur pelts, blue fur parkas, and jewelry decorated the crates he used as a table. The man held up a lovely necklace that reminded him very much of the one that La had made for Tui. 

“Now you look like a lady of good taste, here is one of the most beautiful yet exotic necklaces from the Southern Water Tribe, so rare that this is the only one I have found! It would make a striking statement peace on a lovely young girl such as yourself.” He held it out to him showing off the beautifully carved pendent with waves and a boat. 

Blue scowled, this man spoke like the people of the Water tribes were gone or exotic. He could feel Tui and La’s offense on their children’s behalf. He plucked the betrothal necklace from the man’s hand as if he were simply taking a closer look at it. Chances were the human it, and all the other items belonged to were dead. Killed by the fire nation raids on the south. Still considering how important the necklace La made was to him Blue didn’t want to just let this human sell it off to the highest bidder as some novelty.

He casually leaned against the crates, his free hand laying flat against the side of it. His hand heated up to the point that it burned the wood under it. This stand deserved to be destroyed. With one quick swipe of his claws on the hand print the whole thing toppled. All the items fell every which way. Anything with the slightest curve or bounce to it scattered into the street. The man yelled in shock garnering the attention of other passersby. It didn’t take long for the few thieves to descend upon the mess under the guise of helping the merchant.

Blue Spirit slipped away unnoticed in the madness necklace in hand. He huffed feeling the deep approval from La and Tui’s slight scolding for making such a mess, but she was still pleased with what he did even if she wouldn’t admit it. He slipped the necklace safely into his dress. 

A man with a beautiful iguana-parrot caught his eye. The older human with the huge hat was staring right at him a contemplative look in his eyes. Blue glared right back but instead of looking away the man smirked and marched right over. The flames in his chest started to burn again but staying calm had worked for him so far, he could handle whatever this human wanted. Besides he would be lying if he said he wasn’t interested in that bird. The man’s strides were long, confident, and full of pride. He already didn’t like the human. However, there was something familiar about the man.

“I saw that stunt you did back there.” The man jerked a thumb back towards the stand he had trashed.

“And I must say I’m impressed! Even I wouldn’t have noticed had I not been ah, interested, in that there necklace you have.” Blue scowled, crossing his arms and tilting his head slightly. The man had the audacity to laugh.

“I take it yer not much of a talker, that’s fine. Tell you what, I could use someone with your skills. You join my crew,” The man leaned in and Blue stubbornly stood his ground “and I don’t tell anyone about your little burning gift.” The last part was said quietly enough no one around them would hear him.

“What do ya say, we got a deal?” Blue grit his teeth. So, the adult had seen him burn the wood, but those eyes told him exactly why the man was familiar. He was a nonbender but Agni’s spark was unmistakable. This man was Fire Nation. He was Fire Nation and he thought he could threaten Blue Spirit. Gold locked with dark amber and he pointed at the man then tapped right next to his good eye. After a few seconds of silence amber eyes widened and he looked almost impressed.

“You got a good eye, but my point still stands. If anyone else had seen what I did they would show no mercy to you, kid or not. Not even if you’re a mongrel.” Rude. Blue grit his teeth, he was right not to like this human and now he hated him even more. 

However, the man had a point. There wasn’t really anything that the humans could do to him if they knew he wielded flames but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t hurt. He’d be forced to fight them all and disappear. As much as he hated being told what to do this was a golden opportunity to get off the island. Any other boat he would probably have to sneak on board and stay hidden the whole time.

Besides, no one said he couldn’t cause havoc for this human while on board. Blue glared at the man but nodded his head just once. The man grinned like he won. 

“Good to know you’re not stupid then! We have to leave by the end of the day, meet me at the dock at sundown and I’ll introduce you to the crew. It’ll give you a chance to pack or get whatever you need.” With that the human marched away with an air of someone who had gotten everything he wanted. Blue spirit glared at his back and grinned. His bird was watching blue and on the edge of coming over. Blue held out his arm and that was all the invitation the iguana-bird needed.

It opened its emerald green wings and flew right over. He ducked around out sight once the bird landed. It was big, bright emerald green with lovely golden crest, white face, blue and brown neck. Blue Spirit pulled it closer gently petting its green feathers and in turn it started running its beak though his hair trying to tame it. He smiled sitting down on the ground out of the way of the crowd. Maybe in a bit he would go and continue wandering around before it was time to leave this island. For now, this stunning animal was more than interesting enough.

* * *

Throughout the day as Agni sailed across the sky, Blue spirit would weave in and out of the crowd whenever the urge hit. Now with the iguana bird perched on his shoulder a few adult women would smile and offer treats to his companion and compliment her. She positively preened at the attention. Not that she didn’t deserve it she was a wonderful bird.

She also made a great partner in crime providing a distraction allowing Blue to steal whatever had caught his eye. Most of the items ended up discarded in random places or on different stands. However, a set of throwing knives from the Fire Nation were added to his growing collection of blades. 

Agni cast the sky in a gorgeous array of gold, red, and purple making way for his sister to take his place and signaling it was time to finally leave. The visiting humans were all settling what few trades they had left or returning to the docks. They packed up with far less energy than they had late morning. It was easy to blend into the crowd in the growing darkness.

Only a sliver of Agni was left over the horizon by the time he reached the docks. The man with the big hat was hard to miss standing on his wooden ship. Its orange sails blending in with the burning sky. Blue sighed, he was not looking forward to that human talking at him again. Well might as well have some fun with this. Rather than just walking up the ramp instead he scaled the side of the boat. Slipping past the humans and up to the top of the cabin.

He dangled his feet over the edge plainly in sight of anyone would simply look up. Humans never did though, allowing him to observe the humans on board. The man with the big hat stood at the rails looking for what he could only assume was him or the iguana-parrot. The rest of the humans were going about doing things with ropes and the sails. He didn’t have the slightest idea about what they were doing but they were confident doing it.

“Captain! We’re ready to shove off!”

“Hold off for a few more minutes!” Big hat man called back.

“That brat should be here.” He muttered under his breath and Blue huffed. If it was this easy to not be noticed on a boat then maybe it would be better to just sneak on a different one. Unfortunately, his animal companion decided now was the time to betray him. Screeching loudly turning every eye on the ship right at him.

“Wha-? How did- When did you get up there lad?” Blue just waved his arm at the last of Agni’s light.

“Right, well then. Everyone meet our newest crew member!” The other humans looked at Blue with confusion.

“Er, Captain that’s a kid.”

“Kid’s got skills that will prove, most useful to us. Now let’s shove off before those little girls decide to force us to!” He ordered and immediately the crew jumped into action. 

“You! Get down here!” Blue simply glared, no one told him what to do. Just to spite Big hat man he grappled up some ropes to perch on the lowest sail beam. The human’s expressions of shocked awe were priceless. Perhaps messing with these sailors would be worth dealing with the Captain after all.

Blue Spirit let Tui’s silver beams brush over him as he watched the island that was both a gift and a cage all at once. He smiled seeing the Unagi’s fin rise out of the water chasing after the elephant-koi. He was finally on his way to answering what drew him so strongly to the mortal world and nothing would stand in his way now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bluko is finally on a ship leaving Kyoshi island!

**Author's Note:**

> This I am probably too excited about honestly but anyway onto a few things!
> 
> Zuko right now is 14, he spent a year in the spirit world before he was able to get to the mortal world.  
> He is also fully blind and deaf on his left side.
> 
> This has also been inspired by KidWestHope16, MuffinLance, and MikkiOfTheAnbu stories which are all just absolutely amazing  
> If you want some fun nonsense with some drawings of this here's my tumblr ~ https://patriamrealm.tumblr.com/


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